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Thursday, December 19, 2013

Artist Spotlight : The Jealous Curator

The Jealous Curator, creative brainchild of Danielle Krysa, is a daily dose of contemporary art and design; each post filled with cutting edge creativity. Danielle's honest and unparalleled artistic eye resonates with all types of people- gaining her a loyal following, and making her an authority in the art community. We are so excited to give you a chance to get to know Danielle a little better, and lucky enough to have our own curated collection from the Jealous Curator herself!

Can you take us through what The Jealous Curator is all about?

Sure! Basically, each day I write one post about a contemporary artist whose work I love. When I launched the site in 2009 I was knee-deep in a creative block, and drowning in insecurities. As an artist myself, I started the site to catalog the work that "made me jealous", in a bad/toxic/soul-crushing way. Luckily, in doing so, I now no longer feel that awful, jealous feeling. I've learned that there's room for all of us - if you want to make, make! That jealousy has now, thankfully, turned into admiration and inspiration... but it's too late to change my business cards!

How do you choose the artists you feature?

Oh, it's so subjective. My tagline is "Damn - I wish I thought of that" and I stay very true to that. I often refer to it as a "punch to the creative gut", and that's truly what it is. When I find work that takes my breath away, that I wish I had made myself, I know I've got tomorrow's post. I do tend to love the mix of design/art, and craft/art so you'll see quite a bit of embroidery and typography sneaking onto the site!

How do you feel TJC has evolved since it's start?

Well, my first instinct is to say that it hasn't really changed. A one-a-day post, one paragraph, links back to the artist, beautiful images, and repeat. However, what has changed is the fact that I have readers! When I started the site it was totally for myself - a way to visualize my bookmarks list, and a way for me to deal with the jealousy that I truly was feeling. Five years later I have somehow magically built a huge community of like-minded people around me, and I love it so much! I've realized, through all of them, that none of us are alone when it comes to creative inspiration/road blocks. I've been able to have a dialog with these amazing people not only on my site, but I now speak at conferences, started a series of workshops across the USA, and just wrote a book called CREATIVE BLOCK {to be released by Chronicle Books in February 2014}. I could have never imagined any of this when I started writing into the huge void that is the internet back in 2009. I feel incredibly blessed.

You are not only The Jealous Curator, but have curated some shows of your own. How is it different from curating the content on your blog?

Hm, well, there are a lot more spreadsheets involved! There's also the thrill of holding the work in my hands, hammering in a nail, and hanging an actual piece of work on an actual wall. I love that. It's amazing to come up with a concept, and choose the artists {exactly like on the site}... but then having the worked shipped, hung, and viewed by people in person is another thrill all it's own. A real show is a lot more to think about though! The other difference is exposure for the artists - a real show is fantastic because nothing can replace seeing a piece of art in person, but on the site I'm able to expose an emerging artists to thousands of people at a time. Win - win, yes?

What are some of your favorite posts?

Well there are about 2000 to choose from at the moment, and I really do love everything I write about, but here are a few of the artists that I just keep writing about over and over again:

Oh, and here's a post that was very different than what I usually write. It's what gave me the idea for my workshops: jealous & alone, or maybe not

With the popularity of The Jealous Curator, we're sure you have provided a boost for more than one up and coming artist. How do you feel TJC has impacted the contemporary art world?

I don't know, but I would be thrilled if it has made an impact! I have received emails from artists that I've written about who, after being featured, have been approached by galleries, magazines, publishers etc that now want to work with them. THAT makes me happier than anything else... in fact, I might just be more excited than the artist!

Thank you Danielle!

Don't miss out on some of Danielle's favorite items from our current collection available online now!